Whitehall police officer who resigned seeks disability benefits

Gilbert says he suffers post-traumatic stress from 1994 accident.

October 19, 2004|By Kirk Beldon Jackson Of The Morning Call

A former Whitehall Township police officer who resigned last year after revealing details about the investigation of a fatal ice-dropping on Route 22 will press his case for disability benefits before township commissioners next month.

David Gilbert, scheduled to appear before township commissioners Nov. 1, said he is eligible for benefits because he suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, the result of a 1994 accident in which he struck and killed a woman while driving his patrol car.

But township officials counter that he resigned voluntarily and that two psychologists once concluded independently he does not suffer from the disorder.

Gilbert resigned in February 2003 after he talked to The Morning Call about Dennis Gumbs, who the week before had thrown an 18-pound chunk of ice from the Fifth Street bridge onto the minivan of a Berks County woman, killing her.

He told the newspaper he had questioned Gumbs -- who has been at the Alternative Rehabilitation Communities in Franklin County since a judge found he committed third-degree murder -- and two of his friends shortly after the incident.

Gilbert's conversation with the newspaper violated a "last chance" agreement made after an earlier infraction in which he reportedly forged the signatures of supervisors on a report, said Assistant Township Executive Jack Meyers.

"He would have pretty much seen the writing on the wall," Meyers said.

But Gilbert said mental and emotional difficulties from his accident had prompted him to think about resigning even before the Gumbs incident. "Ever since I first saw my doctor he was preparing me for the possibility of it," he said.

Gilbert struck and killed Cheryil Rowan with his patrol car shortly after midnight on Route 145 in October 1994 while on his way to a domestic call.

The impact severed Rowan's body in two, sending the upper half crashing through his window. Rowan, who had a blood-alcohol ratio of 0.282, was said to have been distraught and suicidal before Gilbert hit her.

Gilbert, who joined the force in July 1993, refused counseling after the accident, Meyers said.

Meyers said Gilbert was suspended for 30 days in 1998 after an employee saw him stealing gasoline from a township pump, he said.

The forgery occurred after supervisors could not find Gilbert's report on a June 2001 road rage incident, Meyers said. Gilbert had previously been counseled for not properly writing reports, he said.

When it surfaced a couple of months later, it bore the forged or photocopied signatures of several supervisors, including then-police Chief Dennis Peters, Meyers said.

"Our position was, in order to avoid discipline, he forged the report," Meyers said.

Gilbert received a 120-day suspension in February 2002 after he appealed a termination notice from the township, Meyers said. The "last chance" agreement was included with the suspension, Meyers said.

Meyers, who acknowledged that Gilbert's problems started after the accident, said a psychologist routinely used by the township examined Gilbert before he returned to work from the 120-day suspension. A second psychologist recommended by the township's labor attorneys examined him later.

Both concluded Gilbert did not suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, Meyers said.

But Gilbert denied forging the accident report and taking the gas. Of the latter incident, he said he was giving directions to someone when the township employee saw him and mistakenly thought he was stealing gas.

Gilbert said he refused help after the accident because he initially felt he didn't need it. "I didn't have any conscious memory of the accident so it didn't bother me," he said, noting he suffered a concussion in the crash.

He said the Gumbs incident pushed him to resign because similarities between it and his own accident "made it painfully clear" he couldn't do police work anymore.